Zurara reported,

Saad bin Hisham bin Amir wished to go forth and fight in the cause of Allah, so he came to Medina intending to sell some property he owned there and use the proceeds to buy weapons and horses, and to wage war against the Romans until he died. When he reached Medina, he met some of its people, and they advised him against this plan. They told him that six men had wanted to do the same during the lifetime of Allah's Prophet ﷺ, but the Prophet ﷺ had forbidden them, saying, "Do you not have an example in me?"When they told him this, he took back his wife, whom he had divorced, and called witnesses to attest to his return to her. Then he went to Ibn Abbas and asked him about the witr prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.Ibn Abbas said, "Shall I direct you to the person on earth who knows most about the witr of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?"He asked, "Who?"Ibn Abbas replied, "Ayesha. Go to her and ask her, then come back and tell me what she answers you."So I set out to her and came upon Hakeem bin Aflah and asked him to accompany me to her. He said, "I will not go near her, because I forbade her from saying anything regarding these two factions, but she refused and went on with it."I insisted, swearing an oath, so he came along, and we set off to Ayesha. We sought permission to enter, and she granted it, so we went in to her.She said, "Is that Hakeem?" recognizing him.He said, "Yes."She asked, "Who is with you?"He said, "Saad bin Hisham."She said, "Which Hisham?"He said, "The son of Amir."She invoked Allah's mercy on him and spoke well of him. Qatada said, he had been killed at the Battle of Uhud.I said, "Mother of the Believers, tell me about the character of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."She said, "Do you not read the Quran?"I said, "Yes."She said, "The character of Allah's Prophet ﷺ was the Quran."I almost rose to leave, resolving not to ask anyone about anything until I died, but then it occurred to me to ask further. So I said, "Tell me about the night prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."She said, "Do you not recite 'O you who wraps himself in garments'?"I said, "Yes."She said, "Allah made standing in prayer at night obligatory at the beginning of this surah, so the Prophet of Allah ﷺ and his companions stood in prayer for a year. Allah withheld the closing portion of the surah in the heavens for twelve months, until He sent down the relief at the end of this surah, and the night prayer became voluntary after having been obligatory."I said, "Mother of the Believers, tell me about the witr prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."She said, "We used to prepare for him his tooth-stick and his water for ablution, and Allah would rouse him whenever He willed during the night. He would clean his teeth, perform ablution, and pray nine units, sitting only in the eighth. He would remember Allah, praise Him, and supplicate to Him, then rise without giving the closing salutation. Then he would stand and pray the ninth unit, then sit and remember Allah, praise Him, and supplicate to Him, then give the salutation loud enough for us to hear. Then he would pray two more units after the salutation while seated. That makes eleven units, my son.When the Prophet of Allah ﷺ grew older and put on weight, he would pray witr with seven units and do with the two units what he had done before, making nine, my son.When the Prophet of Allah ﷺ performed a prayer, he loved to maintain it consistently. If sleep or pain overcame him and prevented him from praying at night, he would pray twelve units during the day. I do not know that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ ever recited the entire Quran in a single night, nor that he prayed an entire night until morning, nor that he fasted a complete month other than Ramadan."I went to Ibn Abbas and reported to him what she had said. He said, "She has spoken truly. If I were on terms to visit her or enter upon her, I would have gone to her so she could relate it to me face to face."I said, "Had I known you do not visit her, I would not have related her account to you."Muhammad bin al-Muthanna narrated to us, Muaz bin Hisham narrated to us, my father narrated to me from Qatada from Zurara bin Awfa from Saad bin Hisham, that he divorced his wife and then set out to Medina to sell his property, and he mentioned the like of it.Abu Bakr bin Abu Shayba narrated to us, Muhammad bin Bishr narrated to us, Saeed bin Abu Aruba narrated to us, Qatada narrated to us from Zurara bin Awfa from Saad bin Hisham, who said, I went to Abdullah bin Abbas and asked him about the witr, and he related the hadith with its full account. In it he said, she asked, "Which Hisham?" I said, "The son of Amir." She said, "What an excellent man Amir was. He was killed at Uhud."Ishaq bin Ibrahim and Muhammad bin Rafi both narrated to us from Abdul-Razzaq, Muamar informed us from Qatada from Zurara bin Awfa, that Saad bin Hisham was a neighbor of his and told him that he had divorced his wife, and he related the hadith in the same sense as the hadith of Saeed. In it she said, "Which Hisham?" He said, "The son of Amir." She said, "What an excellent man he was. He was killed alongside the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at Uhud." It also contains, Hakeem bin Aflah said, "Had I known that you do not visit her, I would not have informed you of her hadith."

حدثنا محمد بن المثنى العنزي حدثنا محمد بن أبي عدي عن سعيد عن قتادة

عن زرارة

أن سعد بن هشام بن عامر أراد أن يغزو في سبيل الله فقدم المدينة فأراد أن يبيع عقارا له بها فيجعله في السلاح والكراع ويجاهد الروم حتى يموت فلما قدم المدينة لقي أناسا من أهل المدينة فنهوه عن ذلك وأخبروه أن رهطا ستة أرادوا ذلك في حياة نبي الله ﷺ فنهاهم نبي الله ﷺ وقال أليس لكم في أسوة فلما حدثوه بذلك راجع امرأته وقد كان طلقها وأشهد على رجعتها فأتى ابن عباس فسأله عن وتر رسول الله ﷺ فقال ابن عباس ألا أدلك على أعلم أهل الأرض بوتر رسول الله ﷺ قال من قال عائشة فأتها فاسألها ثم ائتني فأخبرني بردها عليك فانطلقت إليها فأتيت على حكيم بن أفلح فاستلحقته إليها فقال ما أنا بقاربها لأني نهيتها أن تقول في هاتين الشيعتين شيئا فأبت فيهما إلا مضيا قال فأقسمت عليه فجاء فانطلقنا إلى عائشة فاستأذنا عليها فأذنت لنا فدخلنا عليها فقالت أحكيم فعرفته فقال نعم فقالت من معك قال سعد بن هشام قالت من هشام قال ابن عامر فترحمت عليه وقالت خيرا قال قتادة وكان أصيب يوم أحد فقلت يا أم المؤمنين أنبئيني عن خلق رسول الله ﷺ قالت ألست تقرأ القرآن قلت بلى قالت فإن خلق نبي الله ﷺ كان القرآن قال فهممت أن أقوم ولا أسأل أحدا عن شيء حتى أموت ثم بدا لي فقلت أنبئيني عن قيام رسول الله ﷺ فقالت ألست تقرأ يا أيها المزمل قلت بلى قالت فإن الله عز وجل افترض قيام الليل في أول هذه السورة فقام نبي الله ﷺ وأصحابه حولا وأمسك الله خاتمتها اثني عشر شهرا في السماء حتى أنزل الله في آخر هذه السورة التخفيف فصار قيام الليل تطوعا بعد فريضة قال قلت يا أم المؤمنين أنبئيني عن وتر رسول الله ﷺ فقالت كنا نعد له سواكه وطهوره فيبعثه الله ما شاء أن يبعثه من الليل فيتسوك ويتوضأ ويصلي تسع ركعات لا يجلس فيها إلا في الثامنة فيذكر الله ويحمده ويدعوه ثم ينهض ولا يسلم ثم يقوم فيصل التاسعة ثم يقعد فيذكر الله ويحمده ويدعوه ثم يسلم تسليما يسمعنا ثم يصلي ركعتين بعد ما يسلم وهو قاعد وتلك إحدى عشرة ركعة يا بني فلما سن نبي الله ﷺ وأخذه اللحم أوتر بسبع وصنع في الركعتين مثل صنيعه الأول فتلك تسع يا بني وكان نبي الله ﷺ إذا صلى صلاة أحب أن يداوم عليها وكان إذا غلبه نوم أو وجع عن قيام الليل صلى من النهار ثنتي عشرة ركعة ولا أعلم نبي الله ﷺ قرأ القرآن كله في ليلة ولا صلى ليلة إلى الصبح ولا صام شهرا كاملا غير رمضان قال فانطلقت إلى ابن عباس فحدثته بحديثها فقال صدقت لو كنت أقربها أو أدخل عليها لأتيتها حتى تشافهني به قال قلت لو علمت أنك لا تدخل عليها ما حدثتك حديثها و حدثنا محمد بن المثنى حدثنا معاذ بن هشام حدثني أبي عن قتادة عن زرارة بن أوفى عن سعد بن هشام أنه طلق امرأته ثم انطلق إلى المدينة ليبيع عقاره فذكر نحوه و حدثنا أبو بكر بن أبي شيبة حدثنا محمد بن بشر حدثنا سعيد بن أبي عروبة حدثنا قتادة عن زرارة بن أوفى عن سعد بن هشام أنه قال انطلقت إلى عبد الله بن عباس فسألته عن الوتر وساق الحديث بقصته وقال فيه قالت من هشام قلت ابن عامر قالت نعم المرء كان عامر أصيب يوم أحد و حدثنا إسحق بن إبراهيم ومحمد بن رافع كلاهما عن عبد الرزاق أخبرنا معمر عن قتادة عن زرارة بن أوفى أن سعد بن هشام كان جارا له فأخبره أنه طلق امرأته واقتص الحديث بمعنى حديث سعيد وفيه قالت من هشام قال ابن عامر قالت نعم المرء كان أصيب مع رسول الله ﷺ يوم أحد وفيه فقال حكيم بن أفلح أما إني لو علمت أنك لا تدخل عليها ما أنبأتك بحديثها